Choose the right battles


I believe that choosing the right battles to fight is an invaluable skill to learn. Men, women, and children fight losing battles every day. If people could learn to choose their battles wisely everyone would be much happier. Every day I see my sisters fight with me, my mom, my dad, and each other for no reason at all. They fight losing battles that makes them think they are taking a step forward, when really they are taking two steps back. They don’t seem to get that sometimes even if you think that you are right it’s better not to argue with someone who will defeat you even if they are wrong.

When I wake up in the morning I go through my daily routine like usual and I go down stairs. I usually don’t see much of my parents in the morning. Usually during the morning they will wake me up and check my room to see if it looks messy. If my room looks messy I will clean it up in front of them and will be on my way. My sister Sara will wake up and get out of bed. Her room will look messy most of the time and my mom will ask her to clean it up. Instead of cleaning it up she will go back to bed or take a shower. When my mom sees that she didn’t do what was asked of her she gets mad and calls her up stairs so she can make sure she is doing it. Sara will go and argue and say that she has to go to school and she will clean it up after school. My mom will get mad and argue with her and Sara will go off to school to avoid having to clean. Sara and my mom do this regularly. Sara is just making things worse for herself. If she just cleaned the room and agreed with our mom both of them would be much happier in the morning.


In school I see kids arguing with teachers about the stupidest things. If you are going to argue with a teacher you had better have a good point because most likely the teacher will win the fight. Teachers are more powerful than students are and that’s just the way it is and that’s the way it will always be. Starting a fight with a teacher, attempting to be annoying in a teachers class, or doing stupid stuff for no reason is only hurting yourself. By doing this your teacher can hold a grudge, and if you argue with someone who is holding grudge you are bound to lose.

Learning to bite your tongue and not fight back is a tough thing to learn. Choosing to be a bigger person and turning the other cheek is a good skill. With practice and effort choosing the right battles can help you tremendously in the long run. That’s why you should choose your battles and not try to beat someone who has less to lose than you.

By Sal M